What is Interpolation?

In music, interpolation is the practice of using or recreating elements of an existing musical composition—such as a melody, chord progression, or lyrics—by re-recording them rather than directly sampling the original recording.

Unlike sampling, which uses a portion of the original sound recording, interpolation involves performing the musical part again in a new recording. Because the original recording is not used, permission is usually only required from the composition copyright holders, such as the songwriter or music publisher.

Interpolation is commonly used in modern music production when artists want to reference or incorporate recognizable parts of older songs while avoiding the need to license the original master recording. However, the use of the underlying composition still requires proper authorization and licensing.